The first book came out when I was in my late teens. I wasn’t interested in the YA genre at all, so I never read them or watched the films.

Fast forward a gazillion years, when my daughter was 8, I got the first book— one of the lovely editions with illustrations by Jim Kay. We’re on The Order of the Phoenix now, with me reading about a chapter every other night to her. She’s a voracious reader on her own, but I wanted to find a new-to-both-of-us series that could extend that magical “story time” period of childhood a little longer. Harry Potter did not disappoint.

J.K. Rowling, on the other hand, continues to be a sore spot on an otherwise happy experience. My daughter is old enough that we discuss art vs. artist, and some of the problematic things Rowling has said publicly. Hard, but necessary, conversations.

On iOS it’s GUU (Goods Unite Us).

Check out Tom Bihn!! They make durable bags that are of excellent quality, and definitely BIFL. They also have a pretty dedicated following of customers that post to a community forum (you can find the link from the Tom Bihn website). People there were really helpful when I posted about waffling between two styles and sizes for an EDC backpack. I definitely recommend checking TB bags out, and going to their forum for helpful advice.

Just checked, and in Uk theaters February 21 through March 2!

Not too scary, but the intro to Tune-Yards’ Gangster makes me reflexively look in the rear-view mirror to see if I need to pull over.

https://txtify.it/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-01/2024-california-election-dodgers-senate-candidate-steve-garvey-kids-family

You could a niche interest that you can lean into and find established spaces that cater to said community. Like gardening? Attend workshops and presentations by your local native plant society. Know how to knit, or want to learn? Weekly Stitch & Bitch events are everywhere. Interested in history and know a bit of mechanics? Volunteer at a historic railroad nonprofit.

Sourdough starter!

Seconding the mythology recommendation! My nine year old loves d’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths and was stoked to find a new podcast called Greeking Out by National Geographic Kids. She’s been listening to it practically everyday, and we just picked up the companion book from the library this weekend.

• Unicorn Rescue Society series by Adam Gidwitz
• Ben Yokoyama Cookie Chronicles series by Swanson and Behr
• Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland
• Wow in the World books by Mindy Thomas and Guy Roz (they have a companion podcast that’s absolutely bonkerballs as well!)

All of these have a nice mix of comedy and mischief/adventure that he might enjoy.

For anyone else curious about the subject matter, I found this from the National Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery:

Margaret Wilson of Wigtownshire (1667-85) was a Covenanter. She was sentenced to death by drowning because she refused to acknowledge the church hierarchy. Bound to a stake on the shore of the Solway Firth she was engulfed by the oncoming tide. The Covenanters were a group of Scottish Presbyterians who were determined to resist the influence of the Crown and the established Church of England.

Millais’s wife Effie was brought up in Perthshire and may have encouraged his interest in Scottish history. The subject of the Solway Martyr was a popular one, and first appeared as an illustration for the periodical Once a Week, published in 1862.

Open a random page in any P. G. Wodehouse novel and you’re good to go! Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bingo Little, Kipper Herring, Stiffy Byng. Or, my personal fave, add in an extra letter like he did for his character Psmith, where, he explains, the “p” is silent, "as in pshrimp.”

That’s not a fake sticker.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks

The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford

Hometown by Tracy Kidder

House by Tracy Kidder

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

I found Headbanger’s Kitchen pretty accessible when I was researching keto-centric cooking. He also does a lot of Indian dishes and some vegetarian as well.

https://m.youtube.com/@HeadbangersKitchen

Horns up! 🤘

Love Jane Austen! I feel a pleasant coziness when I re-read her works as well. I recently found annotated editions of Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey at a second hand bookshop that were really interesting. It offered a bit of historical context, explanation of games or dances the characters would do, insight into the daily life of people of that time, etc. I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you find one.

Ooo… love this question! My go-to is P.G. Wodehouse— there are a multitude of short stories and novels to choose from, each incredibly lighthearted, fast-paced, and super funny (and the character names! How can you not chuckle at the name Gussie Fink-Nottle?!) I find these stories easy to pick up and read in short sessions, and perfect for getting back into the reading habit. My personal favorites are the Jeeves stories and The Drones Club.

Plus, if you’re one who uses an e-reader, Wodehouse’s works were recently added to the public domain, so free downloads are available loads of places. Easy to give it a try!

From The Washington Post: GQ pulls article slamming Warner Bros Discovery CEO Zaslav after complaint

by Will Sommer July 5, 2023

—The writer said he asked to have his byline removed after GQ made extensive changes after publication. The magazine removed the story instead.—

In an unusual step, GQ magazine removed an article critical of powerful media executive David Zaslav from its website just hours after it was published Monday, following a complaint from Zaslav’s camp. The story by freelance film critic Jason Bailey excoriated the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery for his handling of the company’s entertainment properties — specifically, a series of perceived crimes against film, from layoffs at the Turner Classic Movies channel that outraged prominent directors and other superfans, to his decision to not release finished movies like “Batgirl” for tax purposes. At one point, Bailey compared Zaslav to tyrannical “Succession” patriarch Logan Roy. “In a relatively short period of time, David Zaslav has become perhaps the most hated man in Hollywood,” Bailey wrote. A Zaslav associate complained to GQ about the story soon after it was published, according to people close to the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve confidences. By early afternoon on Monday, the magazine had made extensive edits to the story. Archived versions of the original and edited versions of the article show extensive changes that had the effect of softening its tone. A line calling Zaslav the “most hated man in Hollywood” was deleted. The “Succession” comparison to was removed, as was a segment where Bailey called the reality shows that Zaslav oversaw while running Discovery “reality slop.” The final paragraphs of the original article compared Zaslav to the pitiless businessman played by Richard Gere in “Pretty Woman,” with Bailey writing that the executive is “only good at breaking things.” The ending of the edited article was much kinder to Zaslav, removing the “Pretty Woman” reference and simply noting that film aficionados’ complaints have the executive have “gotten personal.” Get the Post Most Newsletter The most popular and interesting stories of the day to keep you in the know. In your inbox, every day. Bailey told The Washington Post that after GQ made the changes he asked editors to remove his byline. He said an editor told him that GQ would not keep an article on its website without the author’s name. By Monday afternoon, the article was removed entirely from the site. “I wrote what I felt was the story I was hired to write,” Bailey said. “When I was asked to rewrite it after publication, I declined. The rewrite that was done was not to my satisfaction, so I asked to have my name removed and was told that the option there was to pull the article entirely, and I was fine with that.” A spokeswoman for GQ declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Warner Bros. Discovery. GQ has a corporate connection to Warner Bros. Discovery. The magazine’s parent company, Condé Nast, is owned by Advance Publications, a major shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery. Advance Publications did not respond to a request for comment. The edits and eventual deletion of the story angered top film critics. On Twitter, writer Scott Tobias wrote that the edited version of the story was “completely unacceptable,” while critic Matt Zoller Seitz shared the archived version of Bailey’s original article. Critic Hunter Harris illustrated the controversy on Twitter with a screenshot from HBO’s “The Wire” — another Warner Bros. Discovery property — in which fan-favorite stickup artist Omar Little describes a rival operation as “very sloppy.” The flap over the GQ article is just the latest controversy for Zaslav, who has presided over cuts at Warner Bros. Discovery as it works to pay off nearly $50 billion in debt. The company’s stock price has fallen by about half since April 2022, when Discovery and WarnerMedia merged in a $43 billion deal. Zaslav has also faced challenges managing Warner Bros. Discovery’s most prominent cable property, CNN. Zaslav fired his handpicked CEO, Chris Licht, in June after months of management turmoil at the news giant, culminating in Licht’s ill-advised participation in a profile in the Atlantic that suggested Licht was out of his depth.